NEW!: Bayous & the Big Easy

LOUISIANA Maximum Elevation: 42 ft.

M Breaux Bridge i ss Lafayette is si pp i R New New Iberia ive Orleans Avery Island r

GULF OF MEXICO

Five nights in the heart of New Orleans reveal the cultural soul of the Big Easy, from the unique architecture and character of the to the Bourbon Street jazz scene

1. Arrive New Orleans Tour begins: 5:15 PM at Hotel Monteleone. A transfer is included from New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport to the Hotel Stories by Monteleone. We invite you to join us tonight for a welcome cocktail reception at your landmark luxury hotel at the foot of Royal Street in Tauck On-tour Exclusive! the heart of the “Vieux Carre;” in fact, some say the French Quarter Filmed narratives by Ken “begins in the lobby of the Hotel Monteleone.” Our reception is Burns tell an American Kenstory Burns followed by dinner tonight at another Royal Street institution – the through the prism known as world-famous Brennan’s, originator of “Bananas Foster.” Meals D “jazz” – so much more than the music, singers, musicians, 2. Cooking School / Mardi Gras Insider and impresarios who ignited Jambalaya, étouffée, historic streetcars, ornate wrought-iron a passion that forever changed the world. Tauck takes you balconies and the cool sounds of jazz... get to know “Nawlins” behind-the-scenes with commentary by the creator of the PBS up close on a day filled with Tauck’s signature sightseeing and documentary “Jazz – A Film by Ken Burns.” insider discoveries in the “Big Easy.” Begin with a city tour that encompasses Canal Street, one of New Orleans’ central and

68 Tauck Value Includes:

• Tauck Exclusive – A private culinary experience at the New Orleans School of Cooking in the French Quarter, featuring a special cooking demonstration and a memorable meal

LOUISIANA • Tauck Exclusive – A private, home-cooked porch lunch at a Maximum Elevation: 42 ft. “Bal de Maison” house party in the heart of “Cajun Country,” featuring traditional Cajun food, music and storytelling

M • Tauck Exclusive – An exclusive tour aboard a private streetcar Breaux Bridge i ss along New Orleans’ famous St. Charles Avenue, lined with live Lafayette is si pp oaks and grand, historic mansions from another era i New Ri New Iberia ver Orleans Avery Island • Tauck Exclusive – Insights from an environmental expert and a field trip with volunteers & community organizers in the 9th Ward that reveals how you help Tauck support New Orleans’ recovery Discover a different world at Shadows-on-the-Teche, a pre-Civil War home with many stories to tell... and mysteries of the bayou to reveal • A special visit to New Orleans’ National World War II Museum GULF OF MEXICO including the 4-D experience, Beyond All Boundaries

• Traditional Cajun dinner and entertainment in Breaux Bridge, the “Crawfish Capital of the World” most iconic thoroughfares; the historic waterfront area on the ; and the mix of modern office skyscrapers, • A horse-drawn carriage ride through the French Quarter to a restored commercial buildings, historic residences, shops and farewell jazz reception and dinner at historic Arnaud’s restaurants that make up the Warehouse District. Then join your local guide for a walking tour of the legendary French Quarter • Visits to Vermilionville, Avery Island, Atchafalaya Swamp, Shadows-on-the-Teche & New Orleans Jazz Nat’l Historical Park from Jackson Square to world-famous Bourbon Street; see Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral and the adjacent Cabildo, • Multiple-night stays in the heart of the French Quarter at the and the antiques district. Pick up a few culinary secrets – and historic Hotel Monteleone & The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans sample some tasty local specialties – during a private cooking demonstration and lunch at the New Orleans School of Cooking. • Airport transfers upon arrival and departure as noted Take a look at traditional Carnival celebrations when you explore • 16 meals (7 breakfasts, 4 lunches & 5 dinners); service charges, Mardi Gras World with a Mardi Gras insider before spending the gratuities to local guides, admission fees, taxes and porterage rest of the day as you please, enjoying dinner on your own. Join us for a French Quarter jazz experience tonight. Meals BL

3. Natural New Orleans / Jazz Heritage Learn about the unique geological environment of New Orleans – America’s only city situated below sea level – and its vulnerability to natural and man-made calamities at an informative presentation by an environmental expert. Meet with volunteers and community organizers on a Tauck Exclusive field trip to the Lower Ninth Ward, devastated by Hurricane Katrina and now making a remarkable recovery. Through innovative collaborations, on-site learning Tauck takes you programs and the ongoing efforts of Tauck World of Giving, to Louisiana’s Tauck partners with a local non-profit organization to support the Cajun country to rebuilding of New Orleans; your participation in this New Orleans explore the French journey helps make this support possible. Later, the prominence Acadian culture, of jazz in the hometown of luminaries such as Louis Armstrong, past and present... Jelly Roll Morton, Wynton Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr. comes from living history to life with a visit to the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park at Vermilionville in the French Quarter. An evening of memorable “Nawlins” cuisine (right) to a awaits as you choose from among three legendary French Quarter traditional Cajun restaurants – The Court of Two Sisters, Tujague’s, or the Hotel house party Monteleone’s Hunt Room Grill – for dinner tonight. Meals BD

Call your travel agent or Tauck at 800-468-2825 www.tauck.com 69 4. Acadiana at Vermilionville & The Bayous Today, we’ll immerse you in the culture of the French-speaking Acadians from Canada who settled “Cajun” Louisiana in the 1760s, as you head out of New Orleans and along a stretch of the Mississippi River through rural Louisiana to the heart of “Cajun Country.” In a Tauck Exclusive experience, “get your enjoys” with a traditional home-cooked Cajun porch lunch – served along with a hearty helping of Acadian music, storytelling and fun – at a private “Bal de Maison” house party. Then you’ll have an opportunity to step a few centuries back in time with a visit to Vermilionville. Set along the banks of Bayou Vermilion, this Cajun and Creole folklife and heritage park recreates Acadian life in Louisiana between 1765 and 1890, with a “village” whose 18 historic structures include six restored original dwellings; meet costumed living historians who illustrate daily life of the period and demonstrate traditional Cajun and Creole arts, crafts and music. Cruise Bayou Vermilion with a National Park Service guide prior to digging into a traditional Cajun dinner tonight – complete with musical accompaniment – in Breaux Bridge, proudly proclaiming itself the “Crawfish Capital of the World.” Spend the next two nights in the heart of French Louisiana. Meals BLD

5. Shadows-on-the-Teche / Avery Island Laissez les bon temps rouler... “let the good times roll”... as you continue your discovery of Cajun culture with a stop at the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette, part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, where a film and exhibits tell the story of the Acadians’ migration in the 1750s from what is now Nova Scotia, and their eventual settlement in the bayou country of the Mississippi Delta in rural Louisiana. Travel to Shadows-on-the-Teche, a pre-Civil War home on the banks of Bayou Teche in New Iberia, once the center of a thriving sugar cane plantation, now restored and maintained by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Your visit reveals some of the mysteries of the bayou – as well as the unique history of this white-columned brick mansion, its gardens and grounds, and the successive generations of the families who called it home from the 1830s through the 1920s. Continue across marshy landscapes dominated by five wooded “islands” – which are actually salt domes – rising from the surface. After enjoying lunch in this unique environment, visit one of these salt domes, Avery Island, home to wildlife-rich gardens and lagoons – and the famous McIlhenny TABASCO® Sauce plant, where you’ll take a tour and taste some TABASCO®-flavored ice cream! Meals BLD

6. Atchafalaya Swamp & Back to “Nawlins” Experience New Filled with bayous, marshes and bald cypress swamps, the Orleans’ and Cajun Atchafalaya Basin is the largest swamp in the , and Country’s history, extends from the delta of the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf of mystery & magic on a Mexico. Today, you’ll venture into this vast network of incredibly private streetcar tour, dense wetlands to observe its abundant waterfowl and other in the Garden District, wildlife on a guided boat tour from Breaux Bridge. Following at the National WWII lunch, you’ll embark on a pleasant drive along a scenic stretch of Museum, and in the historic Highway 90 that takes you back to the “Big Easy” for a region’s unique and final two-night stay at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans. Meals BL flavorful cuisine

70 Explore New Orleans’ French Quarter like an insider with Tauck... from Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral... to a three-night stay at the historic Hotel Monteleone... to meals at famed French Quarter eateries

7. Streetcar Tour / Nat’l WWII Museum Wake up in the heart of the French Quarter for another amazing day spent experiencing New Orleans’ culture, history, cuisine and traditions... in Tauck Style! Start by checking out Magazine 8 Days from $2,750 plus airfare Street, a major shopping mecca affectionately dubbed “the Street (7 Breakfasts, 4 Lunches & 5 Dinners) of Dreams” for its lively mix of specialty shops, restaurants and art galleries. Next, you’ll explore the celebrated Garden District, Begins New Orleans comprising one of the country’s best-preserved collections of Mar 22, 29/ Apr 5, 12, 19, 26 May 3, 10, 17, 24 historic 19th-century Southern mansions, whose opulence Sep 6, 13, 20, 27 Oct 4, 11, 18, 25 Nov 1 / = Sold Out reflects the great prosperity enjoyed by the city’s wealthiest Go to www.tauck.com for space availability; additional departure dates citizens of the era. Board a private New Orleans streetcar for a may become available as these sell out. Tauck Exclusive – a streetcar tour with a local guide along St. Charles Avenue, lined with stately historic homes and magnificent Price Per Person live oak trees, to the National World War II Museum. Your visit to Double $2750 Single $3275 Triple $2638 this state-of-the-art museum honoring the 16 million Americans Tauck can book your air to and from New Orleans, who took part in World War II – set in the section of New Orleans Airfare is additional. for travel originating in the U.S., subject to availability; inquire upon where the famed Higgins amphibious landing boats were built booking for special airfares that may be available. – includes a viewing of the immersive 4-D experience Beyond Please ask at time of booking about additional hotel nights before or after All Boundaries, produced and narrated by Tom Hanks. Return your tour, and about our comprehensive Guest Protection Product. to the hotel, or spend the afternoon as you please. Tonight, ride through the French Quarter on a horse-drawn carriage to a Tauck Fine Hotels / Great Locations Exclusive farewell jazz reception and dinner at famed Arnaud’s Night 1-3 Hotel Monteleone New Orleans, LA Restaurant, a New Orleans landmark since 1918! Meals BD Night 4,5 Hilton Lafayette Lafayette, LA Night 6,7 The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans New Orleans, LA 8. Journey Home Tour ends: New Orleans. Fly home anytime. A transfer to Louis New Orleans: Bayous & the Big Easy combines well with these Armstrong International Airport is included from The Ritz-Carlton, journeys; ask at time of booking! New Orleans. Please allow a minimum of two hours for flight Charleston / Savannah (8 days, page 72) check-in at the airport. Meals B Williamsburg & Washington, DC (8 days, page 74)

Call your travel agent or Tauck at 800-468-2825 www.tauck.com 71